PURPOSE: to approve the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2017/1541 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
CONTENT: the Council decided to approve, on behalf of the European Union, the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The purpose of the Kigali Amendment, agreed on 15 October 2016, is to achieve a global reduction in the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
A stepwise reduction of the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons is necessary to reduce the contribution of those substances to climate change and to prevent their unlimited introduction, in particular in developing countries.
The Kigali Amendment is a necessary contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, approved by Council Decision (EU) 2016/1841, as regards its objective to keep the global temperature increase well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.
The EU must now formally submit to the United Nations the declaration of competence under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the instrument of ratification of the Kigali amendment. The Union has already adopted instruments relating to the areas governed by the Kigali amendment, in particular Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to fluorinated greenhouse gases.
The Kigali Amendment will enter into force on 1 January 2019, provided that at least 20 parties have deposited their instruments of ratification.
The text of the Kigali Amendment divides countries into three groups based on when they will have to reduce the use of HFCs. Under its provisions, most economically developed countries will have to implement the first reductions of HFCs during the period 2019-2023. Most developing countries will begin to freeze their consumption and production of HFCs between 2024 and 2028. The remaining countries will commit their efforts between 2028 and 2031.
Together, countries will have to reduce HFC levels by 85% by 2047.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 18.7.2017.